Rooftop rescue from flames

Cohoes firefighters use ladder to save woman trapped on second floor

Updated 8:46 pm, Saturday, May 4, 2013

Firefighters at the scene of a blaze at 90-92 Manor Ave. in Cohoes, N.Y., on Saturday, May 4, 2013. (Kristen V. Brown/Times Union)

Firefighters at the scene of a blaze at 90-92 Manor Ave. in Cohoes,...

Firefighter work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Firefighter work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013,...

Neighbors watch firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Neighbors watch firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on...

Firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4,...

Firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Firefighters work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4,...

Cohoes firefighter George Primeau Jr. works a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. Primeau rescued a woman trapped on a sloped roof at the fire. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Cohoes firefighter George Primeau Jr. works a blaze at 92 Manor...

Cohoes firefighter George Primeau Jr., right, and Troy Fire Chief Thomas Garrett work a blaze at 92 Manor Ave. on Saturday, May 4, 2013, in Cohoes, N.Y. Primeau rescued a woman trapped on a sloped roof at the fire. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

A blaze that erupted at a Manor Street duplex early Saturday afternoon tore through the back of the two-family home and sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air as dozens of firefighters worked to get the flames under control.

Officials at the scene said two residents were still inside of 90-92 Manor St. when the fire began. A next-door neighbor noticed flames licking the home's exterior and pounded on the front door, screaming.

One woman was trapped on the second floor; she climbed out a window and onto the roof to escape, where firefighters rescued her with a ladder. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of superficial burns, police said. The second resident was not harmed.

Andy Harrington, 47, said he was blocks away when he saw black smoke funneling into the sky.

"I knew it was bad, just from the smoke," said Harrington, whose girlfriend lives nearby. He arrived to watch firefighters pulling the trapped woman from the roof. The firefighter who rescued the woman was George Primeau Jr., son of Mayor George Primeau.

"She was very shaken up, with burns on her arms," he said. "This was bad."

When firefighters arrived at the scene around 1:20 p.m., the fire was raging, officials on site said. By 2:30 p.m., the fire was under control, but firefighters still worked to control hot spots inside the home.

Neighbors gathered to gape at the scene as firefighters poured water onto the house and smoke poured out of it. The back of the home was completely destroyed, an officer said.